Silt fences have been installed in topographically low areas where concentrated flow will collect, often resulting in the overtopping and failure of such fencing. Conventional silt fences have not been structurally capable of resisting the forces associated with high water depths accumulating behind the fence and hydrodynamic forces associated with overtopping. Recent developments in silt fencing include hybrid fabrics with graduated sections of geotextile material having increasing water flux rates directly correlating with increasing fence height. However, these hybrid-fabric fences are not effective in preventing overtopping due to the overwhelming magnitude of runoff flow rates associated with storm events. Wire or chain-link backing has been used on silt fences in order to provide added tensile strength and high-modulus support so that the fabric portion of the fence does not excessively deflect/elongate/sag and ultimately fail due to high tensile stresses, fabric tearing and overtopping.